its a sad day today, Malaysia's no.1 lady - Datin Sri Endon Mahmood has just passed away this morning...according to reports, it was at 7.55am.

every t.v station filled their slot during the day to broadcast the funeral 'live' on t.v. anyone that rely on public t.v stations can only resort to watch channel 2 if they want something else besides the reading of Al-Quran or any funeral-realted programs.

if you watch tv3, there was a small slot at the bottom of the screen where people can send sms (some call it text message) to express their condolences to the Prime Minister and his family on the big loss. I personally envy this lady since long time ago for her strength to go against her breast cancer disease. for me, she is an icon for Malaysians if they are looking for somebody like Lence Armstrong in this country. if anybody bother to look at her past, she has been standing strong against her disease and go thru her daily life with pride. pride as a lady, as a mother, as wife to the Prime Minister of this wonderful land.

lets go back to the sms slot. as the column was for Malaysians that have no chance to meet their leader face to face to tell him how much we feel him, i don't want to be left behind. so i send one sms. something sounds like how much its a great loss for the country to lose her and another normal condolence messagelah. later i send it to 'dapat' (32728)

i got a shock of my life when i realize that i was charged nearly one ringgit for that message. there was no notification that my sms will be charged at all on the t.v screen. it wasn't about the ammount they charge, for me its more like how could they use this situation as opportunity to generate revenue. to make money on somebody else's sad day. to make things worse, i have no idea where will the money go. if it goes to the 'Penyayang' - a cancer centre in Putrajaya, brain child of the late no.1 lady i would not have any problem. Charge me even 5 ringgit per sms, i am game for it. but if it goes to their dirty pockets? damn...

are they too desprate of money? if it was ntv7 or the late Channel 9 ( incase if it still exists today), maybe i could, even i still hate it, take it. but this is tv3, owned by Media Prima Sdn . Bhd, a company that owns 3 tv stations in the country (tv3, 8tv, they bought over channel 9). in fact, they are eyeing to buy ntv7 and if it happens, the company will be the sole provider of public t.v station provided by a private organization in the country.

now i am starting to have doubt on their another program to generate funds thru sms. its the 'Bersamamu' program. its about unfortunate peeple around the country, where their sufferings to go thru life be showed and viewers may donate to them via sms valued 2, 5, or 10 ringgit. how can i be assured that the money will be safely delivered to them.

if you still you remember, if i'm not mistaken it was last year there was a similar program in ntv7 organized by ANSARA. it was called Tabung Harapan Ihsan Pelajar a.k.a Tabung HIP. every night, during the prime time news (8pm) a slot to show sufferings of kids around the country that can't go with their studies, mostly primary and secondary school students because their poor life condition and people may donate via sms (rm 10 per sms), a phone call ( the longer you call, the more you donate), or cheque. i was one of the person that worked as telephonist. my job, just to talk to donors, hear their stories, and up to a level, to be a councellor to those that can't stand their emotions.(remember, the longer their call time, the more their donation is. many of them cried. most of them can't believe their eyes that there were still people living in hunger with maximum 1 meal per day consisting of rice, salt,and water...most of them were people that came from very hard life and become very successful person nowadays. those kids reminded them to themselves during their yuonger days.

during that 1 month experience, i finally believed that there are still a lot of good people that cares about other people with full of their heart in this country. not like those that donates for money, name, and hidden agendas. and until today, i hope that i will become somebody like them when i'm rich. sometime in the future...

before i close, my deepest condolence to Prime Minister and his family...al-fatihah...